The present invention in its several aspects presented herein is in the area of telephone communication in the broadest sense; that is, including all multimedia communication aspects of intelligent networks, call-center technology including computer-telephony integration (CTI), and Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) and related technology.
Telephone is one of the most widely used communication equipments in the world. At first, it was merely a convenient tool to allow people to communicate while they are physically separated. Recently, many companies use telephones to market products and services, provide technical supports to consumer products, allow customers to access their own financial data, etc. Thus, telephone is becoming a major business and marketing tool.
In order to more effectively use telephone for business and marketing purposes, call centers have been developed. In a call center, a large number of agents handle telephone communication with customers. The matching of calls between customers and agents is typically performed by software. A simple example is used here to describe a few of the many advantages of using call centers. When a call is made to a call center, the telephone number of the calling line is typically made available to the call center by a telephone carrier. Based on this telephone number, the software in the call center can access a database server to obtain information about the customer who has been assigned that phone number. The software can now route the call to an agent who can best handle the call based on predefined criteria (e.g., language skill, knowledge of products the customer bought, etc.). The software immediately transfers relevant information to a computer screen used by the agent. Thus, the agent can gain valuable information about the customer prior to receiving the call. As a result, the agent can more effectively handle the telephone transaction.
It can be seen from the above example that the enabling technology requires a combination of telephone switching and computer information processing technologies. The term commonly used for this combined technology is computer-telephony-integration (CTI).
In recent years, advances in computer technology and telephony equipment and infrastructure as well has provided many opportunities for improving telephone service. Similarly, development of the information and data network known as the Internet together with advances in computer hardware and software has led to a new multi-media telephone system known in the art as Internet protocol network telephony (IPNT). In IPNT as well as in the older intelligent and CTI-enhanced telephony systems, both privately and publicly switched, it is desirable to handle more calls faster and to provide improved service in every way, including such improvements as video calls and conferencing.
In various embodiments and aspects of the present invention described in enabling detail below, new and enhanced apparatus and methods are provided for improving telephony systems and service.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for conducting multimedia communication between a host and a client is provided, comprising a host presentation server connected to a wide area network (WAN) wherein clients may connect by computer and interact with a digital presentation provided by the presentation server; and a computerized Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) call-placing and switching system. In the system, initiated by customer interaction with the digital presentation, the presentation server provides data to the IPNT call-placing and switching system identifying the customer and requesting establishment of an IPNT call between the customer and an agent of the host.
In some embodiments the computerized IPNT call-placing and switching system is adapted to select an agent associated with the host to interface on an IPNT call with the client, to return an IP address of a routing point at the computerized IPNT call-placing and switching system to the presentation server, the IP address to be sent to the client, and to route an incoming IPNT call arriving at the routing point from the client to the selected agent. There may be an automatic IPNT call-dialer, adapted to place an IPNT call to the client based on the data sent to the computerized call-placing and switching system by the presentation server, to select an agent of the host to interface with the client, and to connect a call answered by the client to the selected agent.
In preferred embodiments there are agent stations having personal computers with video display units (PC/VDU) associated with the host, and, in addition to the data identifying the customer and requesting an IPNT call, the presentation server sends the digital presentation to be displayed at the PC/VDU at a selected agent station when an IPNT call is accomplished between the client and an agent at the agent station. In these embodiments PC/VDUs at agent stations are connected to a local area network (LAN) with a file server having customer information also connected on the LAN, and the computerized call-placing and switching system, based on the data from the presentation server identifying the client, retrieves data regarding the client from the file server and causes the data regarding the client to be displayed at the PC/VDU at the agent station when the call is accomplished between the client and an agent at the agent station. In a preferred system the wide area network is the Internet, the server is a WEB server connected to the Internet, and the digital presentation is a WEB page hosted by the WEB server.
In another aspect of the invention a telephony call center is provided, comprising a computerized Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) call-placing and switching system connected to a wide area network (WAN) and adapted to receive data identifying a customer accompanied by IPNT call requests; and a plurality of agent stations connected to the call-placing and switching system, each having a computer including a video display unit (PC/VDU). In this aspect, upon receiving the data identifying a customer and an accompanying IPNT telephony request, the computerized telephony call-placing and switching system selects an agent to interact with the client, completes the IPNT call, and switches the completed IPNT call to PC/VDU at the agent station assigned to the selected agent.
In this embodiment the computerized telephony call-placing and switching system completes the IPNT call by returning an IP address of a routing point to the client after receiving the request and identifying data, and then routing an IPNT call arriving at the routing point from the client to the selected agent. Also in this embodiment, the computerized telephony call-placing and switching system may have an automatic dialer, and the automatic dialer places an IPNT call to the client based on the data sent to the computerized telephony call-placing and switching system, and then connects a completed call to the client by the dialer to the selected agent.
Also in this embodiment the PC/VDUs at agent stations may be interconnected on a local area network (LAN), and the computerized telephony call-placing and switching system may be adapted to receive a digital presentation from a remote server and to present the digital presentation on the PC/VDU at the agent station assigned to the agent to whom the IPNT call is switched, at the time the IPNT call with the client is connected to the PC/VDU at the agent station.
In yet another aspect, a presentation server hosted on a wide area network (WAN), is provided, comprising a transmission engine adapted to transmit a stored interactive digital presentation on the wide area network to a client on demand; and control routines adapted to accept a request from the client for establishing an Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) call and to provide the request and an address for the client to a connected call-placing and switching system. In this embodiment the control routines may be further adapted to receive an IP address of a call-routing point from the call-placing and switching system, and to provide the IP address to the client making the call request. Also in this aspect, the presentation server may be a WEB server connected to the Internet, and the interactive digital presentation is a WEB page.
In yet another aspect, in a system comprising a presentation server connected to a wide area network (WAN) and adapted to present a hosted interactive digital presentation to a client also connected to the wide area network, a method is provided for establishing an Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) call between the client and an agent representing the host of the digital presentation, the method comprising steps of (a) upon an input to the interactive digital presentation by the client, sending data identifying the client and requesting the IPNT call to a computerized telephony call-placing and switching system connected to a plurality of agent stations each having a computer with a video display unit (PC/VDU); (b) selecting one of the plurality of agents to interface with the client on the IPNT call; (c) establishing the IPNT call with the client; and (d) routing the established call to the selected agent.